Cross-Platform Development

Lab3 is a cross-platform development company, but what does that mean? In a nutshell, cross-platform development is using one codebase to maintain apps on many platforms.

In practice, there are two ways to do this. The first option is to compile the code into the native language used on different platforms. The second is to develop using a framework that is runnable on different platforms. These different approaches offer different benefits. At Lab3 we tend to use the second method – using a cross-platform framework called Ionic. Ionic apps are web technology based. This means we write the apps in HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript or TypeScript. This makes UI design very flexible compared to native app development. All the native functionality of different devices are still available, via plugins. This includes cameras, GPS, and all the other functionality of a modern mobile device.

We’ve found that by using Cross-Platform development, we can provide phenomenal value to our clients. For a development cost not much higher than a single platform when developing natively, we can reach Web, Desktop, iPhone, Android and Windows Phone. Not every app can work well in a cross-platform format, but in our experience, a lot can!